


soothing

by blackierose



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gay, Hurt/Comfort, Insecurity, Overthinking, Romance, a drabble of sorts, barley the warm boy, ravenpaw is such a sweetheart i cant, ravenpaw the anxious boy, slight angst, very much so, very self indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-30 04:31:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15089039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackierose/pseuds/blackierose
Summary: (ATTENTION (2/10/19): This fic is being remade! I dont enjoy it anymore and know I can do better, so keep in touch for the updated version!)Ravenpaw hates how he looks. He's scrawny and timid looking, no where near the strong build a cat his age should have.But Barley likes him just the way he is.(set moons after Firepaw and Graypaw take him to the barn, ft. nervous Ravenpaw and warm boy Barley this is very much some fluff)





	soothing

Ravenpaw grew increasingly worried on whether or not he would grow. He had always been at shoulder height to Barley, and try as he might, for several moons now the highest he had grown was near the black and white cats chin now. It shouldn't bother him this much but it had, and still did, to imagine himself smaller than his barn companion.

 

Ravenpaw wished desperately to become big and strong. He was nearly a warrior age now, for Starclans sake!

 

Ravenpaw sighed, nudging a pebble near his foot on the gravel road. It splashed into a puddle near the young cat. He peered into the water at his reflection, grimacing. Weak sunlight glimmered on the surface, warping his image with a soft glow. Ravenpaw had always been of smaller stature than everyone his age. He was skinny to the point that he considered himself scrawny, his pelt clinging to his bones. Ravenpaw stared at his large, angular ears, and a long neck that made him look gangly. His legs were long and his paws small, reminding him off a Windclan moor runner.

 

Very unlike his strong built friends.

 

Compared to even his brother he looked weak. Dustpaw, his littermate, was admittedly bigger and stronger than he ever was. 

 

Ravenpaw stilled, furrowing his brow. Dustpaw. It had been awhile since he thought of the clans, let alone his brother. Of Firepaw, his best friend, and Graypaw… he had been here at the barn for a few moons.

 

Feeling the familiar ache of thinking of them, he stood and sought out Barley to distract himself. Enough thinking of the things you hate about yourself, he muttered inside his head. And everyone is safe. They have to be.

 

Scrambling up the fence, he trotted to the barn to seek the tom. He peeked up at the loft to try and spot him, meowing to announce his presence.

 

“Hey Ravenpaw,” Barley called from up on the wooden beams near the ceiling, thumping down onto the tall hay with a grunt. 

 

“Hey.” Ravenpaw meowed, jumping on top of a dusty crate. He sneezed as the particles tickled his nose, shaking out his sleek fur, which made Barley laugh. Ravenpaw squirmed uncomfortably but didn't comment.

 

Barley tipped his head, padding over to the small black cat. “Why so upset?”

 

Ravenpaw shrugged. “Got a little lonely I guess.” He answered softly.

 

Barley hummed in response and leaped up beside Ravenpaw, settling down. At times like this Barely knew too just sit back and listen. Ravenpaw would calm down eventually. 

 

His warmth soothed Ravenpaw and he felt his heart lift a little. He was lonely yes, but he had Barley. He thanked Firepaw again in his mind for bringing him somewhere with another cat. Being alone made Ravenpaw overthink and more anxious.

 

“You still miss home?” Barley murmured, glancing at the apprentice.

 

Ravenpaw startled a bit, looking away. “Er- yeah. Not that I don't love it here, it's just- I guess I miss my friends?”

 

Barely blinked at Ravenpaw to go on. His warm amber eyes stirred Ravenpaw to continue.

 

“N-Not that you aren’t my friend,” Ravenpaw rambled. “It’s just that- everyone I know thinks I’m… That I’m dead. So it kind of hurts to think things won’t be the same.”

 

Barley hummed again, flicking his tail against the cats side. The black and white tom tucked his paws underneath him thinking.

 

“I can understand that. I miss my old friends too, sometimes.” Barley mewed softly.

 

“You have friends?” Ravenpaw blurted, and stiffened as he realised what he had just said. 

 

“W-Wait sorry! You're older than me, you must have friends-”

 

“Back when I lived in the Twoleg place with my sister, yes.” Barley purred amused. “I had a couple good friends before I left.”

 

“-oh.” Ravenpaw said, glancing down at his paws in thought. Now that he thought about it, the few moons he had stayed here Ravenpaw hadn’t heard much about Barleys past. Or any of it for that matter. The only thing he knew was that Barley wasn’t born here at the barn. Why would he leave the safety of Twoleg place for the outskirts of the moorland? He wanted to ask but feared it was not his place. Was Barley a kittypet, perhaps? 

 

Ravenpaw studied the toms side profile, searching for signs of a soft fed life. Barley had a sharp, angular jaw, used to hunting and not soft pet food. He had a look of contentment, but not one of a house pet. Ravenpaw looked at his pelt, which was long and sleek from fat mice and routine grooming. He supposed if you put a collar on the tom you probably wouldn’t be able to tell he was a loner. Although despite the thick coat, lean muscle rippled through the pelt with a reminder of what life he lived.

 

Not a kittypet. Or he hasn’t been one for a very long time, at the least.

 

Ravenpaw sighed in awe. Barley was a strong looking, handsome cat. He blushed slightly at the thought. It was weird to admit, but true. 

 

Ravenpaw wondered how weird it would be for him to nestle against him, was his fur as soft as it looked?

 

Barley gazed back at him amused, making Ravenpaw yelp in surprise. He was staring so intently at the tom he hadn’t realised that it was too long. “Er- Sorry for staring.” Ravenpaw laughed awkwardly. 

 

Barley narrowed his eyes playfully. “Hmm. No harm done. I’m guilty of it too.”

 

Not waiting for Ravenpaw to reply he stood and stretched, his back arching high into the air as he yawned. “Let’s get to bed, shall we?” He drawled, stepping down from the crate towards their nest.

 

Ravenpaw blinked at the sudden question, trying to backpedal his mind onto what Barley had said before. He was guilty of it too? Of what? 

 

Ravenpaw felt his chest flutter as he realised what he had meant. Staring? Ravenpaw's face turned red, his pelt feeling like it was crawling with ants all the sudden. He shuffled his paws embarrassed.

 

“You- You stare? At me?” He questioned in disbelief. 

 

Barley laid down on the soft hay, rasping his tongue on his paws before answering.

 

“Well, who wouldn’t?” He shrugged, his amber eyes searching Ravenpaw's own. 

 

Ravenpaw opened his mouth to tell him that no one, no one would want to look at him like that. But he stopped, keeping it to himself. 

 

Why would they? He frowned, looking away. He wasn’t much to look at in the first place.

 

“No you’re not.”

 

Ravenpaw jolted, snapping his head up to meet the amber gaze again. The eyes were sharper this time, cutting through Ravenpaw's thoughts like a claw. 

 

“Not what?” Ravenpaw blinked.

 

“You are worthy of someone's compliments, you know. Don’t question yourself so seriously like that.”

 

Barley held out a paw as Ravenpaw was about to protest. “I mean it.”

 

Ravenpaw blushed fiercely, stammering. “O-Okay.” He meowed, looking away. 

 

“Get some rest.” Barley purred, nosing the straw beside him in a makeshift nest. “Come tell me about the clans again, you had a brother right?” His warm voice was inviting, soothing Ravenpaw's worries and questions.

 

Ravenpaw perked up and scrambled to leap to the hay, settling beside the tom cat. Barley pressed his warm fur up to his own, Ravenpaw eyes widening.

 

Oh. So that’s how it feels. He was very warm, and soft. Barley’s soothing purr resounded over Ravenpaw's body. It was better than he thought of it being. Very comfy, would recommend.

 

Ravenpaw chatted excitedly about the clanmates he grew up with, about Dustpaw, and of him and Firepaw and Graypaw mischief. All the while Barley listened calmly, adding hums of agreement here and there.

 

And somehow, being away from home wasn't so bad when he was times like this.

 

Ravenpaw blinked, realising Barley had fallen asleep, his tail wrapped around Ravenpaw's back comfortingly.

 

But he had a new home now, he decided, blushing lightly. Ravenpaw laid his head down beside the tom, closing his eyes.

 

And there's nowhere else he would rather be.

**Author's Note:**

> Cheesy ending whoops
> 
> Please comment and drop a kudos if you enjoyed and if you want me to make more like this! ;w;


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